Apr 27, 2020

HOW TO WIN:Email info@hexfilmfest.com with RABID CONTEST in the subject line and include the following:1) Your full name.2) Indicate consent (write yes or no) to sign up for the HXFF email list for future fest, film screening, and contest updates and news3.) Your full mailing address in Canada.Contest closes at 11:59AM, Tuesday, April 28, 2020.

Contest open to residents of Canada only, the age of 18 or over. ONE ENTRY PER EMAIL. MULTIPLE ENTRIES WILL BE DELETED.Winners will be chosen at random and contacted on Tuesday, April 28

RABID

AVAILABLE ON EST, VOD, AND DVD

APRIL 28

– Remake of the Classic David Cronenberg 1977
Horror Feature Film –

– Starring Laura Vandervoortand Ben Hollingsworth–

– Written and
Directed by The Soska Sisters–

For immediate release

Toronto, Canada – April 20,
2020 – Following the Canada-wide theatrical release, Rabid will now be available on Apple TV, Sony,
Rogers, Bell, Shaw and DVD across Canada on April 28th. Written and
Directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in A Trunk, American Mary) and John Serge, Rabid stars Laura
Vandervoort (Jigsaw, V WARS, BITTEN) as “Rose” a demure
seamstress who goes through a radical transformation after electing for plastic
surgery following a disfiguring accident. Rabid
is
a remake of the classic

David Cronenberg 1977 horror feature film which was executive produced by Ivan Reitman. Rabid also stars Ben Hollingsworth (CODE BLACK) as “Brad” a fashion photographer, WWE superstars CM Punk as “Billy” and his wife New York Times best-selling author AJ Mendez as “Kira.”

Drawing influence from the original movie, the remake is set in the seductive and glamourous world of high fashion and will follow Rose (Laura Vandervoort), a young woman whose disfigurement after an accident leads to a radical and untested stem-cell treatment. While turning Rose into the belle of the ball, the experimental transformation comes at a price.

“It’s a tremendous honour re-imagining David’s 1977 body horror classic, Rabid. Our Rabid is a continuation of the thoughts and conversation David started, but modernized through a female perspective. The film not only honours his original Rabid, but also Cronenberg’s entire body of work,” said Writer-Directors Jen and Sylvia Soska.

The Rabid DVD (Blu-ray and Standard) contains the following special features, Audio Commentary with Directors and Writers Jen and Sylvia Soska and an interview with star Laura Vandervoort. It is released by Shout! Factory on behalf of A71.

Rabid is produced by Back 40 Pictures in
conjunction with Telefilm Canada, Ontario Media Development Corporation and
London based, Media Finance Capital. Michael Walker, Paul Lalonde and John
Vidette are the producers.

About A71 Entertainment:
A71 Entertainment is the leading independent distributor on the Canadian Feature Film landscape that focuses on acquiring award-winning and festival selected feature films. A71 applies a high level of strategic thinking to all acquisitions from the earliest possible stages of a film’s development. The company sets itself apart by virtue of a commitment to marketing titles on all levels - from industry to audience - with a specific commitment to reaching and building a broader audience. Previous releases include, LOVE JACKED, AUDIENCE OF CHAIRS, HONEY BEE, HARPOON (Certified Fresh) and SHE NEVER DIED. Future releases include the award-winning THE CUBAN, starring Oscar and Emmy award winner Louis Gossett Jr.

Apr 22, 2020

April 22 is National Canadian Film Day! As a proud Canadian genre film festival based in Hamilton, ON -- and with the continued importance of staying home and social distancing during this COVID-19 pandemic -- the HXFF is proud to present a list of Canadian-made feature films you can stream from the comfort from your own home -- all of which were official selections of our festival in past years.

So crack a cold one and take off with thrills, chills, and kills from the Great White North....Hexploitation style!

THE HERETICS2018, DIR. CHAD ARCHIBALD. 88 MIN. CAN

A notorious cult kidnaps a young girl and sacrifices themselves by the light of the locust moon. The next morning the girl awakes, covered in blood and surround by corpses… but safe – or so she thinks. Years later, the locust moon is set to rise again and the girl is captured once more by a surviving member of the cult. She is taken to a remote cabin where she learns that a demon has been growing inside of her all these years, and before dawn breaks, it will rise. Director Chad Archibald and screenwriter Jayme Laforest (BITE) weave a tale of satanic abduction, crazy cults, cabins in the woods, and demonic possession anchored by top notch performances by Ry Barrett (THE DROWNSMAN) and Nina Kiri (THE HANDMAID'S TALE).

A character-driven horror film about a single mother who wakes up in a medical facility to find that everyone is dead and she's nine months pregnant. And to make matters worse, strange blood-hungry creatures are lurking in the darkness. Starring Julian Richings (Man of Steel, The VVITCH, Cube), Lara Gilchrist (Battlestar Galactica), Mark Taylor (Flashpoint), and Torri Higginson (Stargate: Atlantis).

Beneath the decay of a dying world lives the Mad Doctor Mindskull. Using the planet's power of creation he has created the ultimate Weapon. Can mankind find a way to stop this Evil before time runs out?

During a late night taping of Dr. Nasty's Cavalcade of Horror, bloody chaos takes place while screening two features (Dinner for Monsters and Slit). Samantha/Nurse Nasty is frustrated with how the show is being run by its womanizing director and its drunk and crazy host, Dr. Nasty.

Rey Ciso was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen. Since a horrific accident left him with four wooden fingers on his right hand, he's had to resort to cutting pulp films and trash pictures. When the lead actors from the film he's been editing turn up murdered at the studio, Rey is fingered as the number one suspect. The bodies continue to pile up in this absurdist giallo-thriller as Rey struggles to prove his innocence and learn the sinister truth lurking behind the scenes.

Travis is an underground comic book artist with a penchant for the obscene. When one of his comics insults a Chinatown crime boss, the gangster punishes Travis by removing his drawing hand. A daunted Travis retreats into a life of alcoholic misery. That is, until his hand returns from the grave...

Janey is sent to a silent meditation retreat, in the woods, for rehabilitation, only to realize that the men who run it are brainwashing women, and if she breaks the rules, she'll discover what lurks beyond the trees.

Mar 20, 2020

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are living in unprecedented times. The seriousness of the COVID-19 virus cannot be overstated: even if you do not believe it is a health risk to yourself, the contagion is certainly a health risk to others in your communities and is already wreaking havoc on global health care systems and economies. The world is not ending -- I repeat, the world is not ending -- but the situation is very serious and we all must do our part to stop the spread of this disease. How can you, as an individual, help? Two words.

STAY HOME.

Unless absolutely necessary, stay home. Practice social distancing. Do not attend public gatherings or entertainment events. Do not visit with friends. Act like you already have the virus and you need to prevent spreading it to those at risk in your community. Do your part. Support front line healthcare workers and those whose jobs require them to remain in public. Stay home and save lives.

Social distancing is, however, a thankless task. In gratitude, and to help you combat the boredom of self-isolation, I have compiled an easy-to-reference list of every feature-length Hexploitaton Film Festival official selection that are available in Canada to stream, rent, or buy online. This index starts with our most recent 2020 festival and goes back all the way back to 2013 Catch up on films you missed this year or catch up on some fan favorites. And don't forget: wherever possible, support indie and local filmmakers and businesses. Support each other. This too shall pass.

All the bloody best,

- Aaron Allen

HXFF OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

ONLINE STREAMING RESOURCES

Official Selections: 2020

TO YOUR LAST DEATH 2019, DIR. JASON AXINN. 92 MIN. USA

In this groundbreaking 2D animated feature film, Miriam -- the sole survivor in a deadly revenge game set up by her wealthy industrialist father to punish his children -- receives an offer from a supernatural entity to go back in time and try again. Now, Miriam must survive both her father’s bloodlust and the extra-dimensional Gamemaster’s ever-changing rules to save her siblings as she relives the worst night of her life.

What started as the debauched annual slumber party for a tight knit group of gal pals becomes a fight for their lives when supernatural evil threatens to destroy the world--and even worse, ruin the one night of the year the ladies get to have a nude pillow fight. Trapped by magic, surrounded by evil, and very underdressed, will they survive the night? Or will this slumber party become a slaughterhouse? SLAUGHTERHOUSE SLUMBER PARTY is the unholy hybrid of HARD TO DIE, EVIL DEAD II, and PARKS & REC the world never knew it needed.

Despite hanging up his boots after saving his home of the FP, JTRO, the legendary Beat-Beat Revelation warrior, must return to the deadly dance sport one last time. JTRO and KCDC - his mystical hype man - will quest deep into The Wastes, a land decimated by the Beat Wars, to compete in the ancient Beat-Beat tournament, "Beats of Rage," and face AK-47 the sole stealer, JTRO's most powerful and personal foe yet.

2018, DIR. GREGORY LAMBERSON. 90 MIN. USARebellious high school senior Johnny Grissom is murdered while on a drunken joyride. Soon, Johnny's classmates turn up dead, murdered by an unknown assailant. Johnny's best friend Eric begins to suspect Johnny has returned from the grave to wreak havoc on those who wronged him.

RUIN ME2017, DIR. PRESTON DEFRANCIS. 87 MIN. USA
Alexandra reluctantly tags along for Slasher Sleepout, an extreme event that is part camping trip, part haunted house, and part escape room. But when the fun turns deadly, Alex has to play the game if she wants to make it out alive.

THE VELOCIPASTOR2017, DIR. BRENDAN STEERE, 70 MIN. USA
After losing his parents, a priest travels to China, where he inherits a mysterious ability that allows him to turn into a dinosaur. At first horrified by this new power, a hooker convinces him to use it to fight crime. And ninjas.

In an alternate version of 1980s Poland, a pair of mermaid sisters come ashore and join an adult night club as strippers and singers. While one seeks love with humans the other hungers to dine on the human population of the city. A monster mermaid musical!

A cloaked stranger interrupts the Christmas Day festivities of a strong willed matriarch (Dee Wallace) who is celebrating with her dysfunctional family. When the stranger goes on the offensive, the family is subjected to an un-silent night of holy terror in which the cinematic carnage that makes victims of naughty and nice alike.

WHO'S WATCHING OLIVER tells the story of a mentally unstable loner lost in a life of depraved violence forced upon him by his psychopathic mother. His only savior and possible way out of a life of sleazy violence comes in the form of the beautiful Sophia. Or will she end up like all the beautiful women in his life: cut up into little pieces?

A character-driven horror film about a single mother who wakes up in a medical facility to find that everyone is dead and she's nine months pregnant. And to make matters worse, strange blood-hungry creatures are lurking in the darkness. Starring Julian Richings (Man of Steel, The VVITCH, Cube), Lara Gilchrist (Battlestar Galactica), Mark Taylor (Flashpoint), and Torri Higginson (Stargate: Atlantis).

What starts out as a relaxing summer day by the pool for a group of high-maintenance socialites quickly turns into a gory nightmare as the unknown killer begins to stalk and murder the young girls in increasingly bloody ways. Definitely a pool-side treat for fans of bodacious, blood-soaked bikini body counts.

Feature documentary about the enduring legacy of the character King Kong, and how the 1933 film has inspired countless artists, writers and filmmakers. Featuring interviews with Joe Dante (Gremlins), Doug Jones (Hellboy), Dana Gould (The Simpsons), Bob Burns (monster movie historian and collector), Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead) and more.

After the untimely death of an uncle she never knew she had, a young woman must return to her ancestral home on a tiny rural village in Ireland where she soon discovers that the suspicious townsfolk and secluded estate of her dead family is harboring a dark and ancient secret.

A genre-defying mixture of horror, sci-fi, myth, mystery and thrills told as four interlocking tales in one intelligent anthology. Ghosts, spirits, creatures, demons and more from the paranormal world collide with rational curiosity.

Beneath the decay of a dying world lives the Mad Doctor Mindskull. Using the planet's power of creation he has created the ultimate Weapon. Can mankind find a way to stop this Evil before time runs out?

Five teenage friends set out for the beach on their Spring Break vacation. Good times are cut short when one of the group contracts a deadly sexual transmitted disease during a gas station bathroom. But this is no ordinary STD! When they stop for the night at an isolated motel, the STD virus starts running rampant, turning those infected into sex-crazed and oozing living dead mutants.

Its Halloween 1989, best friends Sam and Josh are trying to enjoy what's left of their final Devil's Night before graduating high school. But trouble arises when the two pals and a group of friends take a detour on their way to a rock concert, finding an old abandoned barn and awakening the evil inside. Now it's up to Sam and Josh to find a way to protect their friends and defeat the creatures that lurk within "The Barn".

After a night of carousing, the amateur photo model Zina heads for a fashion shoot in the nature, accompanied by the ambitious Mia, apathetic Dragica and snobby photographer Blitcz. On the idyllic location, a supposedly ordinary fashion shoot soon turns into a fierce fight for survival.

During a late night taping of Dr. Nasty's Cavalcade of Horror, bloody chaos takes place while screening two features (Dinner for Monsters and Slit). Samantha/Nurse Nasty is frustrated with how the show is being run by its womanizing director and its drunk and crazy host, Dr. Nasty.

Rey Ciso was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen. Since a horrific accident left him with four wooden fingers on his right hand, he's had to resort to cutting pulp films and trash pictures. When the lead actors from the film he's been editing turn up murdered at the studio, Rey is fingered as the number one suspect. The bodies continue to pile up in this absurdist giallo-thriller as Rey struggles to prove his innocence and learn the sinister truth lurking behind the scenes.

Travis is an underground comic book artist with a penchant for the obscene. When one of his comics insults a Chinatown crime boss, the gangster punishes Travis by removing his drawing hand. A daunted Travis retreats into a life of alcoholic misery. That is, until his hand returns from the grave...

Janey is sent to a silent meditation retreat, in the woods, for rehabilitation, only to realize that the men who run it are brainwashing women, and if she breaks the rules, she'll discover what lurks beyond the trees.

Oddball hotdog vendor and love-lorn loser Albert is shocked to find himself thrust into the world of perverse fetish art photography when an an enigmatic NYC photographer named Ivan plucks him from obscurity to be his bizarre new muse and model. However, when Ivan accidentally leaves Albert with the keys to his studio, Albert decides that his best way to woo women is to become a freelance photographer. Soon, Albert is luring call girls and drunken women away from parties with the promise of modelling gigs that in his inept hands soon turn deadly and increasingly depraved.

In a town riddled with corruption, Yann, a naïve urban planner, acquires a 9mm handgun possessed by the soul of Sarah, a recently murdered prostitute. Working together the two eliminate the city's criminals one by one, seeking to restore order by hunting down the man at the head of the corruption... the mayor himself.

ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTOR is a documentary that sheds light on the underground VHS culture and the people who still collect and cherish what many call a "dead format." Working with Horror Boobs and Lunchmeat Magazine, directors Kinem and Peretic bring together and capture an entire community who share a love of the VHS format in a stylish and quirky documentary sure to speak to nostalgia nuts and horror freaks alike.